Small Businesses Must Fit to Connect Customers Via Mobile Apps

Internet became a thing in the late 1990s and early 2000s due to a boom in innovation as well as the sale of personal computers. And since then, it has become the number one place for conducting business as well as advertising it. Large multinational corporations started harnessing its superior reach and subsequently grew themselves unprecedently. Then came in medium and small-sized businesses, after witnessing the wonders the internet could do. There was a flurry of websites stuffed across the internet, all aimed at consumers, all of them with their own USPs to woo a now bigger and potential market in their favours.

A lot of small businesses reaped its benefits and continue to do so. Also, a lot of upcoming small businesses’ first step in marketing is often building a website. However, a lot of them stop at this very step. To consider having just a website for your start-up enough is a grave mistake, one which might stagnate you or, worse, make you obsolete. In this age of remarkable advancement in information technology, start-ups must start reaping the benefits of App Development.

While having a web presence is still an absolute must, it should now be more mobile friendly than ever. Online activities of a majority of internet users continues to shift to mobile, thus making mobile App Development for Start-ups a very important marketing tool for small businesses. Smartphone usage is increasing manifolds every day. Studies estimate that consumers now spend up to five hours a day on mobile devices. According to a survey, three out of four mobile users check their mobile phones at least once per hour. All the estimates and surveys point in one direction: Smartphone content is going to be more visible than your desktop content, and so small businesses must fit to connect customers via mobile app development. 

How Can You Fir In?

The first step towards a more mobile friendly business environment is a relatively undemanding one, check whether your website is optimized for mobiles or not. Traditionally, the websites are made with personal computers in mind. These devices have a larger screen and hence allow for a larger number of objects to be shown at a time on the screen. However, when these websites are opened in a mobile, the device’s smaller screen makes things a bit convoluted. Often times the designs go awry and the websites become unresponsive, leaving the customer disgruntled. If you’re one of these businesses, consider upgrading your website. A responsive website can exalt user experience. It can be easily done these days thanks to a number of responsive web themes that are readily available on popular platforms such as WordPress and Shopify.

So, now that you have a really nice, user-friendly and mobile-friendly website, you are ready for the next step – your own small business app. While having a great website is certainly healthy for your business, mobile apps are the future. You just read above that consumers now spend up to five hours a day on mobile devices. Here is an additional trivia for you: 92 percent of that time is spent using apps — with remaining 8 percent devoted to a web browser. Here, you have your reason to move onto a more mobile-app-centric business environment.

How Can A Mobile App Help You?

Mobile App Development is imperative for businesses these days. While websites are great and probably will showcase a larger amount of your products at a time, they are slower in comparison to your mobile apps. In today’s world, where people seldom have time for themselves, a faster responsive alternative shall certainly catch their attention.

Secondly, once you have your app on someone’s device, it stays there. You have just earned a loyal customer. Your website is a great tool to attract new customers, but it is your app that helps you create a loyal customer base. Using mobile websites as a means to catch the attention of customers has been the top strategy of most successful marketers. This strategy enables to build a long lasting and expandable relationship with customers as well as extending customized and personalized shopping experience to the customers. And with such competition in today’s era, the paramountcy of loyal customers can never be understated.

The most important perk of having your small business app is customer interaction. Websites allow very limited opportunities for you to personalize your customers’ experiences or for your customers to contact you easily. This hassle can be foregone using your own small business app. Mobile App development has paved ways for imbibing chat functionalities with ease into your app. You are now just a touch away from your customer in case of a grievance, and for a customer that is a very significant reason to choose you over your competitions. It is easier for your customers if they can reach you with just a touch on the icon of your small business app on their smartphones. On the other hand, you too can now reach out to your customers effortlessly and at any time via push notifications, another perk which is not present on the website. Do you have a new offer? Are you launching a new product? Do you have a promo code for a loyal customer? Easy, you can now do it all with just a push notification.

Having your own small business app gives you the advantage of using various smartphone features, for example, geolocations, geotagging etc. You can tag your customers on the basis of their location, give out location-based coupons or incentives or notify staff when a VIP customer enters your store.

To wrap up, the past decade has seen an unparalleled growth in mobile devices, powered by app development. A small business can very smartly leverage this trend to its benefit. You deserve a better return from your business, and to do it, invest in mobile App Development for Startup. Your app lets you instantly connect with your customers via recent advances like bot chats, virtual reality, etc. Harness it and you should see your business rise. Create a mobile-centric business environment, as your success depends on how quickly you conform to changes.